SGER: The Role of Plants in the Weathering of Silicate Rocks

探索性研究小额赠款（SGER）涉及 植物在风化中作用的初步研究 方法;实地研究的夏威夷岛和山。圣 海伦和实验室分析。 夏威夷提供了一个独特的 有机会研究风化，因为这里有：（1）日期 玄武岩可追溯到4000多年前（2） 植物，从地衣和藻类到发达的雨林， 在恒定基岩岩性和恒定 微气候和（3）获得生物学家的专业知识， 目前正在同一地区研究植物生态学。 我们计划 测量厚度和矿物化学成分 风化皮上的年轻流，并确定化学 组成的相对风化率的存在和 没有特定的生物群。 地球化学碳循环模拟及其对地球化学的影响 大气CO在中生代（Berner，1990年）已经揭示了 更多地了解陆地植物如何影响 化学风化 这包括植物对植物的影响， 硅酸盐风化吸收CO的速率和反馈 植物介导的风化对大气变化的响应 有限

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) involves preliminary study of the role of plants in weathering by a two-fold approach; a field study on the island of Hawaii and on Mt. St. Helens, and laboratory analyses. Hawaii offers a unique opportunity to study weathering because here there are: (1) dated basalts ranging back to more than 4000 years (2) a wide range of plant life, from lichens and algae to well developed rainforest, within small regions of constant bedrock lithology and constant microclimate and (3) access to the expertise of biologists who are presently studying plant ecology in the same area. We plan to measure the thickness and mineralogical and chemical composition of weathering rinds on young flows and to determine the chemical composition relative rates of weathering in the presence and absence of specific biota. Modeling of the geochemical carbon cycle and its effect on atmospheric CO over Phanerozoic time (Berner, 1990) has revealed the importance of knowing more about how land plants affect chemical weathering. This includes both the effect of plants on the rate of uptake of CO by silicate weathering and the feedback response of plant-mediated weathering to changes in atmospheric CO .